Draw A Bird for the whole of Spring

I have a challenge for everyone and hope you will join me in this challenge. There is a special story behind this challenge which I am sure you will all enjoy and perhaps it can be encouragement as well.

Lets have some fun.. No need to be a professional, I sure am not, but what I thought we can do for the rest of April is paint and draw birds. They must be free hand and do not have to be realistic. They can be anyway you see a bird.

The reason why I am choosing birds is a little story that you may or may not have heard about.

In 1943, a little girl called Dorie Cooper 7 years old at the time, went to visit her uncle in hospital, he had been wounded in war and had to have his leg amputated. So as you can imagine, he was down and feeling very blue.

So to try and cheer him up, for even a short time, asked him to draw her a bird. Because he did not want to dissapoint her, he agreed and looking outside the window saw a robin which he went about drawing.

Dorie laughed and told him that he is definitely no artist, but she promised she would put his painting up on the wall. He loved her direct honesty and laughed.

Nw this one simple even started that whole ward of wounded soldiers to start painting and drawing birds, and they were not perfect by no means, but they would hold competitions and within a short time, all the walls of the wards were covered in bird drawings.

Three years later, Dorie Cooper was killed in an accident. Soo on her birthday 8th April, that hospital and lots of other places around the world have Draw a Bird Day in her memory and for the soldiers wounded in wars.

So we have missed the 8th of April, but I would like us to draw birds till the end of April for all those wounded in wars no matter who they are and where they were wounded....and to say a little prayer for Dorie, one special little girl that even for a few moments, put smiles on soldiers hearts.

I will put a few photos here for inspiration, but please feel free to draw your own version.

Replies to This Discussion

Let me kick off with a bird I drew sometime back but will definitely add in newly drawn work as well so we can be challenged to get out of our comfort zones and draw , paint and be creative.

I would say try for two birds a day, but if that is too much, lets try for one bird. Some can be scribbles, never know you can return to them at a later date and turn it into an amazing masterpiece. So when sitting in your car, or waiting for you children after school, hanging out in your back garden get your drawing pad out and share it with us.

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